Archive for category: News

1. The Minister of Public Safety Bill Blair announced yesterday at a press conference that foreign nationals with valid temporary resident status (work permit or study permit)  will be able to enter Canada, however, they remain subject to travel restrictions announced Monday, that came into effect at noon EST yesterday, March 18, 2020. This means they must either be an immediate family member (spouse, common-law partner or dependent child under 22) of a Canadian citizen or permanent resident or have been resident in the U.S. for the last 14 days. If any of your employees on a work permit are currently outside Canada and unable to return, please reach out to our office to discuss next steps. He also announced that foreign workers providing essential services will be allowed entry, however, no details regarding the definition of essential services are available yet.
2. IRCC has sent a communication to stakeholders confirming that flagpoling (going to the Canada-U.S. land border to make an immigration application or land as a permanent resident) will not be permitted until further notice. Individuals should apply for extensions online. Note, however, that the processing time for online extensions is 3-4 months.
3. The IRCC Call Centre is unavailable until further notice. We encourage all foreign nationals with questions regarding their immigration status or ability to travel in and out of Canada to reach out to their immigration lawyer at CILF.
4. All individuals with a biometrics instruction letter now automatically have 90 days from the date of the letter, instead of 30, to complete the biometrics requirement. Applications can be refused if the applicant does not provide biometrics before the deadline.
5. Transport Canada’s air travel restriction (see yesterday’s update) went into effect yesterday at 12:00 p.m. EDT and it appears that airlines are fully enforcing it. Foreign nationals who are unable to demonstrate that they are not excluded by the restriction risk being denied boarding or even deplaned before takeoff. We strongly recommend that foreign nationals travel with clear documentation establishing their eligibility (for example, a marriage certificate and copy of spouse’s Canadian passport to establish that they are indeed an immediate family member of a Canadian citizen).
6. Air Canada has announced a dramatic reduction in its flight network until further notice. Given the reduced volume of flights, many travellers will encounter difficulties with booking. All global travel has become significantly more difficult.
7. CBSA is reminding everyone entering the country to notify a CBSA officer if they have any symptoms including cough, difficulty breathing or an indication of a fever. This is vital to protecting the public health and to the global fight against COVID-19.
8. The U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Canada have suspended all routine non-immigrant visa appointments until further notice.
9. Certain countries have already announced repatriation efforts for their citizens who are currently abroad. Canada has not yet announced such an initiative.

Information with respect to all aspects of immigration and travel are evolving moment by moment and is subject to change at anytime. We will continue to keep you informed.

• It only applies to travel by air. Surface traffic and marine shipping are exempt.
• U.S. citizens are not automatically allowed to board flights to Canada, contrary to what Trudeau announced during his speech yesterday afternoon. American citizens that have not been in the US for the last 14 days will not be covered by the exemption.
• Airlines will be instructed to deny boarding to anyone who has been outside Canada or the U.S. in the last 14 days UNLESS the individual is a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or in transit to a third country.
• The measure comes into force at 12:00 p.m. EDT on March 18. It applies to denial of boarding, and not denial of entry into Canada. Therefore it appears that foreign nationals who are caught by the restriction could still be admitted into Canada should their flight arrive after 12:00 p.m. EDT tomorrow.

It is still unclear whether temporary residents with a valid work or study permit and the family members of Canadian citizens and permanent residents will be allowed entry if they have been in a country other than the U.S. in the last 14 days.

For full details, please refer to: https://www.canada.ca/en/transport-canada/news/2020/03/new-measures-for-covid-19-response.html

We expect things to continue to evolve rapidly and are monitoring the situation closely. It is unknown as to  how well-versed the airlines will be in applying the terms of the restriction to individual cases and cannot guarantee that foreign nationals who appear to be eligible to travel to Canada will be allowed to board the plane.

Corporate Immigration Law Firm is experienced in advising employers and foreign nationals on immigration issues. This year we were once again named one of Canada’s top 10 boutique immigration firms by Canadian Lawyer Magazine. Contact one of our immigration lawyers today for assistance.

The OINP Employer Job Offer streams are employer-driven, meaning that the employer must meet certain eligibility criteria. They are:

• Must have been in active business for at least three years
• Must have at least $1 million in gross annual revenue in the last fiscal year ($500,000 if the location of employment is outside the GTA)
• Must have at least five full-time employees who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents at the foreign national’s work location (three if the location of employment is outside the GTA)

There is an Employer Job Offer stream for foreign workers with at least two years of related work experience in their current occupation, and one for new graduates who have completed postsecondary education in Canada within the last two years. Neither have minimum language requirements which is hugely helpful for candidates with weaker language skills.

The Employer Job Offer streams are subject to annual quotas and have remained closed since September 23, 2019 due to high demand. The streams were also closed from April 27 to August 27, 2019, again due to processing volumes. They are expected to reopen in early 2020. We strongly recommend that employers prepare their applications in advance so that they can be submitted as soon as the program reopens, as there is no way to know how long the streams will remain open before they are closed again.

The OINP also has three Ontario’s Express Entry streams, which are designed for individuals with a valid Express Entry profile but a score that is not high enough to receive an invitation to apply. These streams have remained open throughout the year. From time to time, OINP will issue Notifications of Interest (NOI) to Express Entry candidates inviting them to apply for a nomination certificate. The nomination certificate is worth an extra 600 points, so the candidate is essentially guaranteed an invitation to apply for permanent residence through Express Entry. It is worth noting, however, that since January 1, 2019 OINP has only issued five rounds of NOIs, and four of them targeted specific occupations (technology professionals and certain financial and administrative professionals). No candidates with CRS scores below 435 were considered. This is less than ideal news for individuals with scores in the low 400s. As of November 23, 2019, there were 133,848 active Express Entry profiles in the pool. Of these, 58,138 had scores at or under 430. These numbers confirm that there is a huge interest in Canada and there are very qualified candidates for permanent residence from all over the world in the pool. It was not very long ago that a score of 430 was enough to receive an invitation to apply for permanent residence. This is no longer the case and more and more employers are finding that they have employees who are having difficulty receiving an invitation. We believe that this will result in even greater demand for the OINP streams.

We believe it is a good practice for employers hiring foreign nationals to ensure there is a permanent residence strategy in place at the beginning of the employment relationship. The absence of such a strategy could result in costly and time-consuming extension applications or even business disruption, should the employee be unable to secure an extension of his/her work permit.

Corporate Immigration Law Firm – is experienced in advising employers and foreign nationals on immigration issues. This year we were once again named one of Canada’s top 10 boutique immigration firms by Canadian Lawyer Magazine. Contact one of our immigration lawyers today for assistance.